Potential

"This aura, it's so tasty, it's delicious" Zen said as he walked like an empty husk towards the man and women that stood before him.

"More, more, more! Give me more!" Zen roared. His voice sounded like this voice of a thousand, more sinister than before. The plants at the heel of his feet withered.

"Everyone, into formation!" Mr. C said.

"Cynthia," Mr. C called out.

"On it chief!" Cynthia responded.

While the rest of the band had spread out and surrounded the vile entity on all corners, Cynthia stood behind Mr. C, who was in front of the demon.

She closed her eyes and held out both hands.

Giant hands as big as Zen's manifested out of thin air. They had a purple glow. Cynthia was a master in manipulating her aura into different forms.

She attempted to land some blows on the demon but its speed was beyond her reaction time. It evaded every single one of her attacks.

She shaped her aura into chains and tried to restrain the demon but her attempts were futile, she ended up exhausting herself. That was the downside of her power, lack of stamina.

Dylan who was a swordsman stood alert, waiting for his chance to deliver a weakening blow. He used his aura to manipulate his speed, easily making him the fastest member of the squad despite being the youngest.

Zeke was a power type. He repeated connected blows with the demon while Cynthia's chains distracted it. He had skin enhanced to be strong as metal.

Jay, a non combatant member of the squad ran down to help Josh with Ronnie and Lily. He was a healer.

As Cynthia's chains broke off, Zeke dealt a powerful blow to the demon but it didn't so much as flinch. Zen stood immobile, only turning his head in all directions like he was analyzing the situation.

"Sir, I think this demon is uninterested in us. What is going on?" Cynthia asked. She tried to catch her breath as she kept pushing herself to manifest the chains stronger.

"He IS uninterested in us. The phantoms in his head have only one goal. To find the source of that aura" Mr C said, pointing at Ronnie whom Jay had carried to a safe distance.

"isn't the boy in danger?" Cynthia asked.

"Not for now. His aura needs time to replenish after Zen almost sucked it all out of him. do you read an aura signature from him?" Mr. C said. Cynthia gave no answer, she wore a look of realization.

Zeke kept punching heavy blows but the demon was hardly affected.

Ren's eyes rolled and landed on Zeke.

"He is becoming a distraction to us. We must eliminate him" He spoke lazily in his grotesque voice.

Ren slapped Zeke away with the back of his hand, causing him to go crashing on top of the car that Jay and the rest of them hid behind.

Josh shrieked.

"Is he dead?!" He grimaced. His eyes looked terrified

"He isn't. Zeke is famous for taking a beat—"

"Blood" Josh muttered, interrupting Jay.

"what was that?" Jay asked.

"He's bleeding. I think he's hurt bad." Josh said. He pointed at the blood dripping off the side of the car behind Jay.

Jay turned in horror, his eyes widened.

"Just what type of demon was strong enough to tear through Zeke's skin?" He said to himself.

Josh looked at Jay, then he looked at Ronnie and Lily who were still both unconscious.

"Ron, you've made some very interesting friends while I was in that coma" Josh said.

He tried to maintain his composure, sweat dripped down his face.

Jay pulled Zeke off the roof of the car in an attempt to heal his injuries.

***********

Dylan moved at a frenzied pace leaping and slashing Zen multiple times but he hardly made a dent on demon's hard skin.

"Chief! This isn't working! I want to go home, I'm not paid enough for this " Dylan yelled.

"You're always so cowardly! Shut up and hold your position" Cynthia roared at him.

"Take it easy on him. He's a kid" Mr. C said.

"I know I know and that's the problem. He's too young for the battle field" Cynthia said.

Mr C. sighed.

"I know, but we need him. We're short on hands. Need I remind you about the sudden appearance of demons all over the globe?" Mr C asked in a serious tone. Cynthia gave no answer. She wore a disappointment but agreeing expression on her face.

"I'd help out if I could, but since this is a school and residential environment, I'm having to conceal and shield this whole area from onlookers. I can't break my focus." Mr. C added.

"Chief, I'm ready" Mason said over the earpiece.

"Dylan" he called out.

"Sigh, yes sir. I sure hope I get to go home after now" Dylan said.

He became even faster. Slicing through the demon's major joints.

"out of the way!" Mr. C commanded.

Dylan leaped out of the way.

Mason shot an arrow made of ice at the demon. He was mostly a marksman who also happened to use his aura in the form of elemental manipulation.

The arrow connected with the Zen, freezing both him and the area surrounding the spot he stood.

Quickly, Cynthia manifested a giant mallet, smashing the demon to pieces. 

There was silence, they all stood in anticipation like they were awaiting it's return, but it didn't come.

"What about the phantoms?" Dylan asked.

"They didn't escape. They went down with him." Mr. C said. sighing in relief.

Cynthia threw herself down again the concrete floor.

"That was…tasking. When last did our squad have to deal with something like this?" Cynthia asked.

Dylan walked over to where she sat and sat next to her, resting his back against hers.

"Can I go home now? right after I catch my breath that is" Dylan said.

"That's right. We all get to go home. Come on. We have to figure out what to do with the kid" Mr. C said, walking towards the car Jay and the rest hid behind. The others got up and followed him.

"Oh and Mason?" Mr. C called out.

"I suppose this is about my timing. I'll work on finishing my enchantments faster next time, Chief" Mason replied as he walked next to Mr C.

Mr. C smiled. "Your self awareness makes it easier to talk to you. Good talk" he said.

****************

Jay healed Zeke's broken bones as the others arrived.

"Just who are you guys?" Josh asked with a look of shock on his face.

"We're people. You already know too much. Stop asking questions." Cynthia responded in an irritable tone.

"Yes of course. You guys are so badass" Josh said. His look of disbelief had started to turn to relief.

"Thank you. It's our job to keep you safe from scum like that" Mr. C said with a small smile.

"Jay, status?" He asked, shifting his attention from Josh.

"He's fine, they both are. They just need their auras to be replenished enough for consciousness" Jay said.

In that moment, Ronnie winced and opened his eyes to find a bunch of people staring at him from above.

Lily came to almost immediately after Ronnie did.

"speak of the devil" Mr. C said.

"Ron! you're awake!" Josh yelled.

"What— what happened?" Ronnie asked, barely paying attention to Josh.

Nobody around him gave an answer. They just stared at both him and Lily.

"So, this soul tie thing is real. They woke up almost the same time" Zeke said.

Unlike Ronnie, Lily had gotten a good grasp on the situation quickly. She just sat against the car in silence, waiting for her aura to be replenished.

"Something feels…off" Josh randomly said.

"found you. We finally feel your aura signature" a voice said from above.

The whole gang was shocked, they looked up in the sky to find none other than Zen. He crossed his arms and flashed a knowing smile.

"The other one was….a copy? when did he…Im—impossible. We snapped you to pieces" Mason said.

Zen had a sinister laugh and brought himself lower to the ground.

"True, you did snap us in pieces. Well then, it'd only be fair if we returned the favor." Zen said.

Zeke leaped to punch him. Before anyone could respond, Zeke had lost his left hand in the process of punching Zen. He then grabs him by the collar and tosses him down in a fashion that breaks the concrete ground.

He attacked them one after the other, leaving them mortally injured, which made Mr. C break his concealment.

"stay out of my way!" Zen thundered to Mr. C who was somehow holding his own against Zen, trying to protect Ronnie, Lily, and their healer who was crucial to their operations.

" why is there so much blood?" Ronnie muttered. The reality of his situation has started to hit him, he looked around. Injured people, scared best friend, Lily barely had the strength to move, neither could she do anything.

"Once again, I am not able to protect anything" Ronnie thought.

His knees trembled and he felt nauseous. Lily weakly held this hand.

As Ronnie took another look around, he dragged his hand away from Lily.

"No, No! I can't let this happen. I can't be powerless. Why was I thrown into this supernatural world if I'm just an ordinary, average guy?!" Ronnie yelled at nothing. 

His golden colored aura overflowed high enough to cut through clouds as a tear drop rolled down his face.

Zen laughed manically. He tossed Mr. C aside and basked in Ronnie's overflowing aura. channeling it into himself.

"How did his aura get replenished so fast?!" Mr. C asked as he struggled to breath. Meanwhile Jay and Josh were frozen in fear,l crouched behind the cars.

Lily charged at Zen but he knocked her aside without breaking a sweat.

"Lillith. I always found you too weak to be queen. You look pitiful" Zen said.

Ronnie fell on his knees hopelessly as he watched everything play out.

"you have the power to help yourself" a voice whispered to Ronnie. 

He raised his head in shock and confusion.

"Look within yourself, Ronnie. Look within yourself, what do you see?" The voice asked softly.

Ronnie looked around and laughed hysterically. 

"I'm hearing voices now? I really have lost it" he sighed and wore a bitter smile.

"Well, what do I have to lose?" Ronnie asked, closing his eyes.

He took a deep breath and entered a state of meditation.

"What do you see?" The voice asked.

"I see— a sword. A large sword. It has a golden glow" Ronnie said.

"Take it, pull it. It's yours. Pull it with everything you have" the voice commanded.

Ronnie took another deep breath, he visualized himself grabbing the sword, he gripped it firmly till he could feel it.

When Ronnie opened his eyes, he was holding that very sword in his hands, gripping it tightly.

Lily had made it back to her feet, she looked at Ronnie in awe. 

Jay and Josh peeked out the sides of the cars with the same expression on their faces.

"Heh, so she hid the sword in her own son, that bastard" Mr. C barely raised his head to look at Ronnie, then proceeded to lay his head back on the concrete.

"This really is an unfair match up. The demon never stood a chance" he wore a confident smile.